The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it will hear a case on whether reading LGBTQ-inclusive picture books in an elementary school classroom without giving parents a chance to opt out their children violates the parents’ religious freedom. Here are the details—plus an exclusive quote from one of the authors whose books are involved.
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case brought by transgender adolescents and their families against a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care for trans youth. ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio, who is also a dad, will be arguing before the court, the first out trans person to do so.
New babies, moms making history, fresh insights on trans parents, advances in reproductive science, political progress, and more! Here’s what’s happening that I haven’t covered already.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a Web designer may refuse to create custom websites for same-sex couples, despite state non-discrimination laws. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissenting opinion, called the decision “profoundly wrong” and noted the message it sends to children with same-sex parents.
Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned abortion rights a year ago, I spoke with two leading LGBTQ family law experts about how LGBTQ families can protect themselves from the ruling’s impact. It’s still relevant, so I’m reposting it along with some new resources and information.
You’ve likely heard the news: A leaked draft opinion indicates that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon abolish the federal right to an abortion. This in itself will impact queer people as much as it will anyone—but could signal a threat to other LGBTQ rights as well.
Did you know that in the 1970s, some social workers were quietly placing queer youth with queer foster parents, in defiance of state laws? They were “were creating something radical: state-supported queer families in an era of intense discrimination,” asserts a fascinating new article on the subject.
In a year like no other, LGBTQ families, like all others, struggled with the physical, mental, and economic challenges of the pandemic. And with children of LGBTQ parents much more likely to live in poverty than those with non-LGBTQ parents, the pandemic may have hit many LGBTQ families, like those of other marginalized groups, particularly hard. Pandemic aside, there were many political and legal challenges—and a few victories—directly related to LGBTQ parents and our children in the U.S. this year. Here are the highlights, good and bad.
This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take a case in which Indiana was trying to deny the right of married nonbiological mothers in same-sex couples to be recognized as legal parents by being put on their children’s birth certificates. An appeals court had ruled in January that both mothers must be allowed on the birth certificates; because the Supreme Court has refused to take the case, that decision stands.
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a case that could let taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care agencies around the country use their religious beliefs as a reason to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others. New research from the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) shows the widespread impact that could have on children in care.
